1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biological information detection apparatus for detecting a driver's biological status information, such as heart beat rate and brain wave signals, while the person is driving or operating an automobile, boat, aircraft, or other vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Devices have been proposed in recent years for monitoring the health of an operator of a motor vehicle by monitoring the operator's heart beat rate while driving to detect operator drowsiness, fatigue, irritability, or arrhythmia. Such devices typically have a sensor, such as a heart beat sensor, fastened to a steering wheel. The devices evaluate operator health based on the heart rate obtained from the heart beat sensor. A signal detected by such a sensor is typically transmitted by a wire harness inside the steering wheel, hub, and steering column to an evaluation device or other signal processing unit. These conventional monitoring devices are expensive because the steering wheel and column are generally standard safety components that must be redesigned in order to additionally incorporate the monitoring apparatus.
To alleviate the costs of retrofitting, it is conceivable to use a standard steering wheel and column by transmitting detection signals from the sensor through a wire harness disposed externally to the steering wheel and column. However, in this configuration, the harness may be subject to short circuits as the steering wheel is turned during driving, and the wires may become wound around the steering wheel. This can lead to potentially dangerous situations while driving.